Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Wow can you believe summer is coming to an official end. I am looking forward to Labor Day weekend and an extra day off.

I wanted to share an opportunity I had to review a photo on canvas from Easy Canvas Prints.

You probably know I love to photography and really had a hard time trying to decide on a canvas. This summer I took photos of some horses and just fell in love with them. It seemed I kept coming across horses used in home décor and I was really drawn to them. Just look at this great horse artwork I found on pinterest.

Pinterest/Apartment Therapy

I decided to use my horses nuzzling photo for my canvas print. I upgraded my free 8x10 to an 11x14. I think it is so cool to have a photo I created stretched onto a piece of canvas and turned into artwork.

This was my original photo.

It was easy to use the site’s canvas design page to choose how I wanted my print to look. The print wraps around the edges of the canvas.

I love the look of the canvas, but I am thinking I might frame it out. I bet I could pop it into an open back frame to give it a finished look.

Take a look at their website Easy Canvas Prints and play around with one of your personal photos and see how great it would look as artwork for your home or even make a permanent memory a summer vacation photo and put it on canvas. Right now you can enjoy 25% off.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Lately I have noticed horse home décor while browsing online. I don’t know if it is up and coming or just catching my attention. I am not a horse western kind of gal even though I live in Texas, but I have always found horses to be beautiful. Change is good and when you do things on the cheap you can change things up whenever you want right? So I am.

I was checking out Ballard’s online catalog and spotted a horse weather vane for a table top.

My lately cobwebbed mind dusted itself and formed an idea. I knew I could recreate this for free instead paying the $149 Ballard price tag.

My husband is in Colorado fishing in the fresh cool air, while I am stuck here in Texas in the 100 degree heat so I had to saw the paint stick myself and using the drill. Actually I would have done it myself even if he was home. I was just trying to get some sympathy.

I found a design I could use on my Make the Cut program for my Cricut and cut out 3 horse silhouettes which I Mod Podged together.

Then I measured how long I wanted my stick and where to drill holes for the skewers. I glued the skewers into the holes and let it all dry. I sprayed a little black paint onto the base and then glued the horse to it. And now I have a free horse vane decoration.

Here is a close up of the base.

Love those books. My father in law gave them to me. He has had them since he was a young boy and he is now 81.

Let’s do a little comparison of the $149 horse and the $0 horse.

I used foam core board to recreate the white background from the Ballard catalog.

Fall keeps calling my name. I did make one little purchase today for fall. I bought some cabbage plants, but the daily 100 degree heat on my front porch will make them wilty in no time. So I am going to wait a bit before I pot them. For now I thought they would look cute in this vintage coffee kettle. I am linking it up to Funky Junk Interior’s theme this week……things used as vases.

My best friend for 26 years lives hours from me (so sad), however, we keep in touch. On facebook she commented how she wanted a shirt for the football games. Her idea had a little twist. She wanted it to say “I am here for the band” because her son is a freshman in the band. I told her I could make her a shirt using my Cricut.

She wanted the initials of the school on it too.

I wish I had listened to my instincts and put the LV on the back and the “I am here for the band” on the front, but I thought I could be talented and overlay them. It works, but I still wish I had listened to myself.

I used the iron on freezer paper technique and acrylic craft paints.

See it’s hard to see the L with all the letters covering it and I got it a bit off center.

Just for fun, here is Becky wearing her shirt.

Do you make your own shirts for sporting events? Do you ever wish you had listened to your instincts?

Monday, August 22, 2011

So I am sharing these photos I took of Izzy. Her personality radiates out of these pics. Even though she is destructive and chews on things like my table leg this little face makes me laugh and smile every day.

I think I am getting the evil eye so I stopped taking photos of her. Harley showed up and I had to take one of the old gal too! Love that sweet old dog.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

I really enjoy taking part in the weekly photo party at I Heart Faces. This week it doesn’t have to be a human face. The theme is pets or any animal. I love taking pics of my dogs, but I wanted to enter one of my favorite photos I took this summer. I love the affection these horses are showing to each other. I smile every time I see it.

I keep dreaming of pumpkins and crisp cool mornings. We have had a miserable summer and I am ready for a change not to mention that I love fall. I have lots of ideas for pumpkins. I can’t wait to see them in the store. Then it is fall right? I think I will be needing some pumpkins like these this year.

What I am not ready for is school to start tomorrow, but it is and we will deal with it. I hope my son has a great last year of middle school.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Because I am a pretty muted colored person and mostly paint in green, it is fun when I get to use vibrant pretty colors on a project. I have been asked to take some engagement photos soon and I wanted to come up with some fun ideas.

I found this chipboard letters at Hobby Lobby for half off.

I picked out my three fun colors.

And painted my letters.

I couldn’t find a couple on short notice to pose for me so I used the puppy. I am pretending I asked her if she would quit chewing stuff she isn’t suppose to chew and would she start sleeping in on the weekends. In my pretend world she is saying “YES”.

But for my real photos I want to take I thought it would be fun to have a couple hugging or kissing with the YES somewhere in the photo. Do you think I should glaze the letters or keep them simple, clean and bright?

Friday, August 19, 2011

When we added the media cabinet to our existing wall unit, it had to be widened to accommodate it and the TV. This caused the corner on the left to be a smaller space so some changes had to be made. I had a cute little chair I had previously painted red

and changed it to Martha Stewart’s Aregan Blue using a sample from Home Depot. I dry brushed a bit of water based Miniwax stain onto the chair after I distressed it.

I bought the ampersand from Hobby Lobby. I have an engagement photo idea I wanted to try using the symbol and thought I might as well use it in my home too.